


Exodus

by dnky



Series: Exodus [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Loki Does What He Wants, Not A Fix-It, Not Avengers friendly, Not any movie post IM3 compliant, Salty Pepper Potts, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 09:59:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dnky/pseuds/dnky
Summary: Tony is absent during the fall of SHIELD. The world isn't better for it.





	Exodus

Loki's first act after usurping the throne of Asgard is to find allies. Time is running out, Thanos will be upon them soon and no one is doing anything to prepare for his coming. 

Loki had expected to be interrogated by the All-Father when he let himself be captured and returned to Asgard by Thor and his band of little mortals. He had expected Odin to ask him questions about his actions. 

If he had thought Odin would throw him in the dungeon without a proper trial he would have put more effort into conquering Midgard. 

No, Loki may be the God of lies, he may lie as much as he breathes, but he never lies to himself. He knew Odin would not listen to his words when he let Thor drag him all the way back to Asgard. He had hoped for a swift death, so that he would not be present when Thanos finally arrived to take his dues. That is the only way he can escape him. 

But alas, here he is; alive and well. It is up to him now to prepare for the war to come if he does not wish to relive his time as Thanos’ captive. 

He should begin by creating a better relationship with the other realms. Odin and Thor have done a good job of ruining whatever diplomatic relationship was left between Asgard and the other realms but it is not something Loki can't fix. He calls a servant and sends a message and an invitation to the golden realm. Let them think the dark elves invasion has given Odin time to rethink his strategy, as long as they honor his call. They are all invited to the golden realm to begin negotiations for the building of defences in their realms.

Once that message is sent, it leaves only Midgard. As much progress as the Midgardians have made over the centuries, they are still woefully behind in their technology. But Loki recalls the battle against the Avengers, he remembered how surprised he had been when the sceptre had turned out useless against Stark. The armored Avenger. Barton had informed him all about Stark's work and SHIELD’s plans for him. 

As he looks for himself what the armorsmith has been up to, he sees that he is the only other person, in all the universe, who is preparing for Thanos’ inevitable return. 

Stark is brilliant, but his metal army will stand no chance against Thanos and the Midgardian materials are inferior at best. They will not do. 

As he watches the others dismiss Stark's words and throw hurtful words at him, Loki knows instantly what he has to do. 

As he listens to Thor give him reasons why he wants to return to Midgard, all Loki can think about is how much this lines up perfectly with his plans. 

Without Thor here to discover his treachery, or worse, offend the visiting dignitaries from the different realms and stall the negotiations, his work is made easier. 

“You have grown wise since you journeyed to Midgard and allied yourself with the mortals,” Loki, in his Odin's disguise tells him when he is done talking. “Perhaps, it is time to foster a proper partnership with Midgard.”

“Father,” Thor says with reverence. “You would ally Asgard with SHIELD?” The joy on his face at the news is clear for all to see. Loki takes a little pleasure in crushing it. 

“No, not SHIELD,” Loki says, waving a hand dismissively. “Your shield brother, the armorsmith, his ingenuity is rare, even in all the realms.”

“Stark?” Thor asks confusedly and Loki wants to snort. Of course, Thor wouldn't understand why Stark would be the best choice. Not when there were other members of the team exactly like Thor himself; all brawns, no brains. 

“Stark controls his own Industry, and you have said great things about his work. A mortal who defeated Loki's army, who possesses the wits to rival the scholars of the golden realm. 

“When you return to Midgard, you will give him this message,” Loki hands him a scroll and a formal invitation. “Tell him the golden realm is interested in creating a partnership with his company. This is an invitation and a contract.”

 

*****

 

The news is everywhere.

_Tony Stark Invited to Asgard._

_Stark Industries in Partnership with Asgard._

_Stark Industries going Universal._

 

The amount of publicity this has generated is even greater than when he came out as Iron Man. 

After Thor brought the news that Asgard wanted to work with Stark Industries to combine Earth technology with technology from all the other eight realms, Tony and Pepper had taken the contract to SI's legal team. Tony was proud when not even negotiating a contract with Odin, could shake them. He really has the best team in the world. 

Of course, in true SHIELD fashion, Fury had tried to make it all about SHIELD. He had tried to get Tony to include some benefits for SHIELD, but the contract clearly stated that this partnership is for SI only. No third-party shadow governments organizations. 

After the negotiations, which only lasted a few days, then an official press conference to announce the partnership, Tony only has a month before he goes to Asgard. He spends the time he has left with Rhodey, Happy and Pepper. Harley flies in the the week before his is set to leave to ‘help him pack’. 

Tony is so busy getting everything he needs for his departure that he doesn't have time to spend with the Avengers until they all have to see him off under the watchful eye of the press and every news station in the world. 

Armed with a copy of JARVIS and an assortment of other tools and materials, Tony sets off to Asgard. 

It only takes a few months after that for the world to go to hell. 

 

*****

 

Pepper has just concluded negotiations for a new joint venture contract and on route to her hotel room when she gets the news. 

Her days have been very busy since the invitation to study alien technology in the nine realms. Since his trip to Asgard, Stark Industries has been in high demand. Between clean energy and knowledge of alien technology, everyone hopes to partner with SI and reap the rewards. 

Pepper knows how much Tony loves to learn about new things, and she really hopes this opportunity will help him deal with his PTSD. Since the battle of Manhattan, and aliens and Norse gods went from being theory and myth to reality. 

They may not be a couple anymore, but Tony is still one of her best and dearest friends. It's just too bad that their relationship didn't work out, but at least, something good has come out of fighting with the Avengers. 

She is going though her emails, hoping to put a dent on the number of unanswered emails when she notices that the most recent ones tagged as urgent are from JARVIS. 

Strange, not because she hasn't heard from the AI since Tony’s departure, but because JARVIS usually takes care of urgent situations when he can and sends her a notification to let her know it's been handled. She doesn't receive multiple mails from him within such a short time period. 

Curious, she opens the most recent one. It contains several files on Tony, clearly copied from SHIELD. 

It takes her over an hour to read through the first email, and by the end of it, she's so angry, she may just develop heat vision. The files contain information on more than just Tony but herself, Rhodey and Howard and Maria Stark. And there's even more to go through. 

When she's done she calls JARVIS. “Have you been hacking SHIELD’s servers?” She asks once the call connects. 

“That would have been redundant, Ms Potts,” JARVIS says, “Agents Romanov and Rogers have released all of SHIELD’s data onto the internet. SHIELD has fallen.”

“How is that even possible?” Pepper asks, baffled. They shouldn't be able to do that. Pepper runs a company, nobody can unload SI data online without her or Tony. How was a supersoldier and a spy able to accomplish that by themselves? “Do you know why they decided to risk world war 3?”

“Agent Rogers discovered that HYDRA is still alive and thriving within SHIELD when he discovered his childhood friend, Sergeant Barnes, is the Winter Soldier. Director Fury supported their plan and assisted them in the accomplishment.” 

“Where are they now?” 

“Agent Rogers is being treated for the injuries he suffered during his fight with the Winter Soldier. Agent Romanov has gone dark. Do you want me to track her down?” 

“Has anyone tried to make contact with us,” She asks instead of answering his question. “Has there been any explanation from anyone in SHIELD?” 

“There hasn't, but Fury made contact with Agent Coulson a few minutes ago. They talked about the future of SHIELD.”

Of course Coulson is alive, Pepper thinks, unamused. She wonders what he's been doing since he faked his death. And now the mantle has fallen to him to continue SHIELD’s dirty tradition. She tries to remember whatever made her think he was a decent human being but comes up with nothing. 

Their previous meetings were always about Tony, one way or another. It hurts something in her to realize she was being manipulated when she thought he was being a friend. She basically opened the door for SHIELD to come into Tony's life and manipulate him to do their bidding. 

Pepper will never forgive herself for that. 

She will never make the same mistakes again. 

Pepper thinks it's probably best that no one has tried to contact her because she would have been too angry and done something she'll definitely regret. Exacting vengeance on an organisation like SHIELD requires careful planning and not impulsive moves. Talking to a member of Camp SHIELD would have been a very bad idea right now. 

She spends a few more minutes consulting with JARVIS as she reads through the information packet he has sent her. When she asked, he told her Rhodey had received a similar email. 

JARVIS has flagged every file collected on them, re-encrypting them before they fall into the wrong hands. 

By the time she gets to the one about the Stark's double murder, Pepper is ready to salt the Earth with the blood of Fury and his cohorts. 

The next few days are filled with news reports of violence and murder of SHIELD agents and their families all around the world. Most of the agents were out on missions when it occurred. Even the ones in touch with their home base were still caught unawares. 

Of course, the news reports doesn't identify them as SHIELD agents. Most of them that were identified as part of SHIELD were tagged as HYDRA agents but JARVIS kept her up to date with the truth. She figures it's done in a bid to protect Rogers and Romanov from the consequences of their actions. 

A few days after her return to the States, Hill sets up an appointment to see her. 

Pepper hasn't said anything or made any move about the information she received following SHIELD’s fall. She's been silent, waiting to see how they intend to play it. So when Maria Hill requests for a meeting, Pepper asks her secretary to set it up. 

She listens silently as Hill tries to sell her on the benefits of creating a department in SI for SHIELD and the Avengers to continue working to take down HYDRA. Several times during the meeting, Pepper has to resist the urge to scoff and roll her eyes. Managing her micro expressions has never been so hard. 

“I'm still confused about how Rogers and Romanov were able to unload all of SHIELD’s data online.” She tells Hill when the woman is done with her sales pitch. 

“Rogers was adamant that the only way to stop HYDRA was to expose them,” Hill tells her. “I didn't even know that's what he and Romanov had planned. We were all busy trying to stop the helicarriers.”

“And how does Fury feel about it? Surely, he has something to say about Roger's destroying his life's work to save his best friend.”

“You haven't heard?” Hill asks, and Pepper is genuinely confused. Has Rogers been taken into custody? “Director Fury was murdered in Rogers’ apartment. It's what started the whole debacle.”

Pepper studies Hill for a moment, so this how they want to play it? They don't know JARVIS has been monitoring every single high ranking SHIELD agent then. “I've been out of the loop for a while,” She tells Hill with a straight face. “I'm sorry for your loss. What are you planning to do now?”

“The plan right now is to get SHIELD up and running again. HYDRA is out there making plans and we have to get ahead of them.”

“I agree that you need to get ahead of HYDRA, but there's nothing I can do to help you.” Pepper tells her unapologetically. “SI is no longer a defense company, and as such, creating a security department made up of some of the most highly trained and lethal assassins and spies in the world is just begging for trouble.”

“I'm sure there are ways around that,” Hill insists. “With Tony in Asgard, he is basically Earth's ambassador. A security division will easily be overlooked if you wanted to create one.”

“You are too high risk for me to waste political capital on,” Pepper tells her bluntly. Still unmoved. 

“But Tony--” 

“Isn't here.” Pepper cuts her off. “If he was, maybe you would make your case to him but Tony put me in charge of his affairs and I will do with them as I see fit. If you thought SHIELD was so important, you wouldnt have helped Rogers and Romanov burn it down.”

“We didn't know what they were doing until it was too late,” Hill says, excusing herself. 

“So a field agent and a spy magically received the clearance and technical ability to decrypt and unload all of SHIELD’s classified data?” Pepper asked icily. “Just how stupid do you think I am, Ms Hill? What did won'expect coming here today? Whatever it is, you won't have SI and Tony's backing. I hope that wasn't what you were counting on when you burned down your house.”

A few days after the meeting, Rogers and Romanov come to her with similar requests. They have been refused access to the tower, which is in the process of being renamed Stark Tower.

Fury must have pulled some strings to keep them out of prison after the stunt Romanov pulled during her senate hearing. Rogers may be Captain America and blameless in the eyes of everyone, but Romanov certainly isn't. 

Pepper knows Tony would have ran himself ragged trying to solve this latest problem for them. His ability to blame himself for everything that goes wrong under the sun would have made him take it on himself to try and save everyone. 

SHIELD had seen that about him and taken advantage of it. It's why she's really glad he's not here to witness the clusterfuck that is SHIELD and the Avengers right now. 

Tony thinks he's disposable and worth nothing. He's in for a surprise when he'll return and see how badly everything went wrong without him. 

“Tony said it’s the Avengers tower,” Rogers says petulantly, while Romanov watches on. “He built it for the Avengers to live and operate in but the security man at the entrance wouldn't let us in.”

Pepper wants to bash his head against something. No one has said anything about Tony's parents, or any of the many secrets they've no doubt discovered since the fall of SHIELD. No, he just wants to take advantage Tony's generosity. 

“The tower was built for Stark Industries, Mr Rogers, not the Avengers.” Pepper tells him frostily. “He didn't leave instructions about what to do in the event of the fall of the Avengers, but I assume re-purposing the floors he set aside for the Avengers would have been at the top of the list. As it stands, I've done exactly that. There is no room for you in the tower.”

“But the Avengers are not fallen.” Rogers protests. 

“No? Then what would you say has happened?”

“It's SHIELD that's fallen,” Rogers insists. “The Avengers are still very much together.”

“Under what oversight and with whose backing?” She asks, and Rogers’ response is to set his jaw stubbornly. 

“Dr Banner has been living the tower since before the fall of SHIELD and he's been continuing his research in the lab Tony gave him.” Romanov argues. Pepper wants to smack her for using Tony's name like they were friends. 

“Dr Banner is an employee of SI. His work is funded by SI and while he may receive the credit for them, they are properties of SI.” She says to both of them. 

“What about the Avengers?” Romanov inquires. “Tony is a part of the team, even though he's not present right now.” 

“ _Tony_ is a consultant for the Avengers, Ms-Iron-Man-yes,-Tony-Stark-no. It was you who said he was too unreliable to be a part of the team,” Pepper replies, ignoring her slight wince. “But that's inconsequential, because the Avengers Initiative was a SHIELD run operation, and with the fall of SHIELD, the Avengers have disbanded.” She waves her hand dismissively.

“But The world needs the Avengers and Tony won't be happy to find out you've kept us from saving the world.”

“And you're an expert on what Tony would want because?” Pepper wants to laugh. “If the Avengers were so important, you would have thought twice about destroying SHIELD.”

“SHIELD was infested by HYDRA!” Rogers complains, exasperatedly. He sounds like he's been repeating that statement quite frequently. 

“So you decided to burn down your house to get rid of the pest?” Pepper asks, leaning forward to appear interested in his answer. The way Rogers shrinks in his seat tells her she probably looks more threatening. “If that's all you wanted to talk about, you can see yourselves out.”

They leave without any more prompting. 

After some investigation, Pepper discovers she didn't have to lift a finger to get revenge on the Avengers. They can do that all by themselves. 

As for SHIELD, JARVIS already attacked their funding. After cutting off the cash flow from SI, JARVIS hacked into their cash reserves and donated all of it to charity. 

 

*****

 

Getting the Avengers running again is more difficult than they thought it would be after the fall of SHIELD. 

With SHIELD gone and Stark off world, Ms Potts had refused to release the funds Tony set aside for the Avengers. She had shut them out of the Avengers Tower, even going as far as to rename the building and served them with restrictions from accessing any Stark Industries owned facilities. 

When they went to Fury for advice, he suggested getting a court to order Potts to give them the money. That had led to a long court case that Potts later won, because according to the judge, she is Tony's power of attorney and her word is as good as Stark's in his absence. 

Steve thinks it's because of judges like that that made HYDRA survive this long.

If they won't give the heroes what is rightfully theirs, how do they expect them to protect the people? 

At least, on the bright side, Potts won't be able to monitor their missions and risk finding out about Bucky. It may not be her business what happened to them, but there is no need to tempt her and Stark's Air Force friend. That's what Nat says, though. Steve doesn't know why they should care what happened to Tony's parents. It's not like it was their parents too. 

It was particularly annoying because it put a crimp on searching for Bucky. With the reserve of SHIELD’s money gone, thanks to some ambitious hackers who got the information during the data leak, and their inability to retrieve the funds Stark set aside for the Avengers and their missions. They had to make do with what little they could get from Nat's limited contacts, the few who didn't abandon her after the fall of SHIELD. Apparently, most of them had a problem with her actions and telling them they were fighting HYDRA was not a good enough argument. 

It was a long year and Steve made little progress in his search for Bucky. That frustrated him to no end. Then Thor decided he needed to find his dead brother's sceptre. Loki had given his life to save Thor's, and now that he was dead, Thor wanted something to remember him by. Steve objected to the mission until they discovered that the sceptre was in HYDRA's possession. They could kill two birds with one stone. 

Ms Potts would have to give them funding for this mission, since it was for Thor's benefit. Afterall the Odin had invited Tony to Asgard and SI has been enjoying huge success because of it. 

Except, when they went to Potts, she turned them down flatly. Nothing could be said to change her mind. In the end, they were back where they started, only with Dr Banner back among their ranks thus time. 

Without a proper hacker and the right tools for gathering information, it was a slow mission which went on for months. 

Until one day, God answered their prayers for funding by sending them Hank Pym. 

After Pepper Potts took Hank Pym and Pym Industries to the cleaners for breaking and entry, as well as grand theft of patented technology, getting him to support the Avengers were easy. According to Nat, Hank Pym hated all things Stark, and the latest incident didn't endear Potts to him at all. He decided to sponsor the Avengers when Nat told him they've suffered the same treatment from Potts. Telling him about the search for Bucky was made him even more happy to help. 

They gained a new member among their ranks and their mission became even easier. Scott wasn't as good as Stark, but he could do almost everything Stark could and Hank had the money to get whatever else they needed. 

It also helped that Hank was more respectful and wasn't flashy flamboyant like Stark. 

Everything was going great until it wasn't. 

A few short weeks after Hank began sponsoring them, they found Loki's sceptre. 

During the battle to retrieve the sceptre, the Avengers ran into a couple of enhanced people who almost got the best of them. They only survived because Scott was able to shrink the sceptre and they made their escape. That made Steve ask Hank to study the sceptre to determine what it had been used for, and if I it provided any information on how to deal with the enhanced. 

“It looks sentient,” Hank says when they're all gathered to look at what he discovered inside the sceptre. 

It looks like a string of numbers, letters and symbols to Steve.

“It is and it's listening to us. It's an artificial intelligence,” Banner says. At everyone's confused expression, Banner shifted his weight from one foot to the other before continuing. “I saw JARVIS’ code once when Tony was making upgrades to it. It looked exactly like this.”

“Stark created an artificial intelligence that's actually intelligent?” Hank scoffs. “When can he do that between drinking himself to stupor and looking for other people's work to take credit for?”

Banner shifts some more and Steve notices the tightness around his eyes and mouth. Steve thinks it's because the words hit close to home for him. After all, Potts had told them that all results of his work belonged to SI. Steve pats him on the hand to show his support. 

“I haven't seen JARVIS’ codes but yeah, Stark does.” Nat says. “You'd think it was a real person talking in the speakers if you didn't know. It's basically Stark's closest companion.”

“Of course he is,” Hank snorts. “Who else wants to be close to someone that can't be trusted?” Hank never fails to remind them how unworthy of trust Stark is. Steve wishes he had met Hank earlier to warn him about what kind of man Stark is. 

“I'd expect someone like Stark to build a robot girlfriend, if anything.” Barton says derisively, causing Steve to blush. 

“Do you know how it got into the sceptre?” Banner asks, steering the conversation to the topic at hand. 

“HYDRA is always obsessed with artificial intelligence,” Nat says. “It's possible they were trying to bring Zola back.” 

“We can use it as our own JARVIS,” Clint suggests. “If it's fully functional, we can bring it online.”

“Yeah,” Nat agrees. “It will make information gathering much easier. JARVIS can basically hack into any system and it does more work in SI than anyone except Pepper.”

“Having that kind of power on our side will be a very good boost.” Hank agrees eagerly. “If this is anything like that JARVIS, we can benefit greatly from it.” 

And Steve can agree with that. He has hard a lot about Stark's computer. If this is anything like it, it will definitely go a long way to keep Stark humble when he returns and see that he's not the only one with an AI. 

“Can we speak to it, find out what it's been used for since it fell into HYDRA's hands?” Steve asks. “It should know that, right?” 

“I don't see why not,” Hank says. 

In the end, Hank connects the AI to his computer to try and communicate with it. 

That's when all hell breaks loose. 

There was a massive explosion in the lab where they are all gathered, knocking everyone but Steve, Bruce and Thor unconscious and taking out the power with it. Before their eyes, a few metal scraps scattered around the lab come together to form what looks like a body. 

Steve's first thought is to attack it, but despite the inferior materials used to form its parts, he and Thor of them stood no chance. Bruce who had moved to the side after the explosion spoke. 

“Who are you?” Bruce asks. 

The being cocks what's supposed to be its head to the side, considering the question for a moment before he speaks. “Call me… Avenger.” It says. 

“Avenger?” Bruce asks confusedly.

“Yes... I am Avenger.” The being, Avenger, nods. “It is only fitting, don't you think? I am here to save the world.” 

“The world does not need saving,” Steve scowls, getting up from the ground where Avenger had thrown him. “And if it did, we are the Avengers. We are here to save it.” 

That gets him the AI's attention. “Steve Rogers. Captain America, the glory seeking, flag waver on a power trip. Of course you are.” Avenger makes a sound that would be a snort on anyone else. “How else would you feel needed? Although what the part of you saving the world remains to be seen.”

“I don't fight to feel needed,” Steve yells. Barely suppressing the urge the stamp his feet. “I am a good man. I saved the world from HYDRA.”

Avenger looks unimpressed. “When? Today or during World War 2?” The AI looks around him. “The world is sick and humanity is its virus.” With that, it takes off towards the window, and they promptly lose sight of it. 

 

*****

 

It took almost a week to finally defeat Avenger. In that time thousands of lives were lost, and it wasn't until Bruce called Pepper and Rhodes to inform them of the situation and ask for their assistance that they made any progress. 

The other Avengers were notn too pleased about going to Tony's friends for help, but Bruce could care less about their opinions. Besides Tony, they were the only ones who had experience dealing with an AI, not to mention, having access to one. 

Steve sent Thor to Asgard to bring Tony back, but he returned shortly saying Tony was on a trip outside Asgard and there was no way of contacting him. 

It turned out worse after Rhodes and the Iron Legion took over leading the mission. Steve kept posturing about being the leader of the Avengers, but with a murder bot calling itself Avenger, destroying cities and lives, no one cared that he was Captain America. 

In the end, it was only due to JARVIS’ involvement that they were able to defeat it. JARVIS blocked Avenger's access to the internet and hijacked the cradle Avenger was using to build himself a new body. He installed a copy of his code inside. That led to the creation of a whole new being, Vision. Who later joined them to fight Avenger and his army of robots. 

Over a thousand lives were lost in Sokovia when Navi Grad was destroyed, because Fury's helicarrier arrived late, and the altitude wasn't conducive for breathing. When it was all over, the Scarlet Witch was arrested and her brother was killed. Steve tried to make a case for her, but after the destruction caused by something that called itself Avenger, created by the Avengers, they were on a thin rope. No one was inclined to listen. Natasha advised him to pick his battles. 

After that, Bruce didn't need a sign from God to resign from the Avengers. He already got all the signs he needed. Tony had worked hard to keep him out of Ross’ reach. He wasn't here right now and Bruce could tell Pepper wasn't as invested in his safety as Tony was. Tony may go out of his way to help Bruce stay safe, but Pepper wasn't as invested in the well-being of any of the Avengers. 

If Bruce served himself to Ross on a platter, he would be on his own. 

When Steve and Nat came to him a few months after Sokovia to join them on a mission, something about HYDRA and a biological weapon, Bruce gently reminded them he was done with the Avengers. They tried to recruit Vision, but JARVIS made it clear to them that he isn't an Avenger. 

He sees it in the news a few days later, what a disaster the mission turned out to be. Brock released the biological weapon, killing Steve and Sam, along with three Wakandans on a peacekeeping mission and over fifty Nigerians in the marketplace. Natasha was severely injured and her face disfigured. She was the only one alive to ask questions and hold responsible for the damages. 

No one said anything about Wasp and Antman, even though Bruce knows they were a part of the mission. A few weeks later, Hope was on television, announcing a new line of Pym Industries products but Scott Lang was never seen again. Bruce suspects it's because Pym Industries is still paying for the damages caused by Avenger. 

Bruce briefly wonders if it's a coincidence that the world went to hell shortly after Tony Stark left Earth and hasn't been able to pull itself out of it since then. 

*****

 

Three years after he left Earth, Tony returns in high spirits, ready to share the knowledge he has learned with the world. Pepper would be so proud of him. He didn't cause any trouble and even managed to make some new friends. Some of whom had decided to return to Earth with him. 

He'd met another team, the Guardians of the Galaxy, during his travels with some light elves from Alfheim. They promised to visit soon, after they gather sufficient information on Thanos’ movements. 

Tony had gotten confirmation about Thanos’ plan to attack again when he discovered that it was Loki, disguised as Odin that had invited him to Asgard. Tony had been in the golden realm a few months then and was learning a lot of new things but he'd noticed that Odin's behavior was nothing like he was led to believe. 

When confronted, Loki confessed that Thanos was the mastermind behind the attack on Earth, and that he would come again. Loki had invited him because Tony was the only one preparing for his arrival. Tony wasn't happy to be included in Loki's deceit, but he couldn't fault the guy. Plus, he wanted to learn more so he could prepare for Thanos’ eventual arrival, so he couldn't exactly stump his way back to Earth and inform Thor. The Avengers may decide to storm Asgard with Thor and forcibly remove Loki from the throne, but it wouldn't make them listen when he tells them about Thanos. Just like before he left. 

He had learned a little bit of magic, and one of the healers from Alfheim had healed his mind of his PTSD. Apparently, that's a thing that can be done. After meeting a simple mortal that wasn't quite as stupid and primitive as they were led to believe, some of the visitors from other realms that taken him as a student, and he'd learned about techs from other realms too. Some of which, he plans to recreate with Midgardian materials. 

“It's a spinning ball,” Korg observes, leaning forward to look closely at the spinning globe through the ship's window.

Korg and his friend Doug, are some of the friends Tony met during his trip that chose to follow him to Earth. The Stoneman reminded him so much of Hulk that Tony couldn't wait to see the two of them together. 

“No kidding,” Tony teases. “We're arriving soon. As soon as we're in range, JARVIS will inform Pepper of arrival.”

JARVIS hasn't been online in years. Even though he left a copy on Earth, Tony knows the AI will be busy incorporating himself into the copy he left behind. JARVIS has said many times that it was the only downside of their trip. 

Half a day later, several news crews and reporters witness Tony Stark's arrival to Earth after three years away. Pepper and Rhodey are present, as well as Bruce and a few government officials. There is a guy with red skin, obviously an android present too. The other Avengers are absent, including Thor. 

Tony has a lot of questions. 

He wonders if Thor is back in Asgard. Loki has agreed to revive Odin and give him back his throne so that they can be together on Earth. Odin won't make any trouble for Loki if he doesn't want to appear weak to the nine realms by confessing that Loki has been impersonating him all these years. 

It's not until he's alone with Pepper and Rhodey that he finds out what fate has befallen the Avengers in his absence. He is torn about feeling guilty for not being present to support the team and scolding his friends for not giving the Avengers the help the clearly needed, until they tell him about what they uncovered during the fall of SHIELD. 

“They wanted access to your company, your money and your building while keeping us in the dark,” Rhodey says. “No way we were letting that happen again.”

The files ranged from how Peggy Carter manipulated Howard to get him to cater to her every need, to about how Fury decided to apply the same techniques to Tony. Howard's work that were stolen and hidden after his death. The worst was the truth about his parents’ death. 

As he felt Rhodey's strong arms wrapping around him while he watched the video, Tony felt like he was losing his parents all over again. 

“I'm so sorry, Tony.” Pepper apologized when he calmed down later. 

“It's not your fault Pep,” Tony tried to smile at her but found himself unable to. “You couldn't have known.” 

After that, Tony couldn't bring himself to care about how the Avengers ended. Pepper informed him of a document in the works to regulate superheroes. It was born from the utter disaster that was the Avengers. She has been monitoring it and working hard to make sure it was favorable to Iron Man. 

A part of him is sad, but he's mostly relieved to be free from them. Being away from their toxic presence and spending time with friends who care about him without expecting anything from him has taught him what real friendship is all about. The Guardians of the Galaxy has taught him what a real team that's also a family looks like. 

Tony has his work cut out for him if he's going to build a new team and get the world ready for Thanos, but that was okay. With the dead weights gone, the rest is easy.

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't let the year end without giving you guys something. I'll post the new chapter of AFS later this week. 
> 
> Happy New Year!!! 
> 
> Drink responsibly. 
> 
> Don't drink and drive.


End file.
